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Wednesday, January 25, 2017

Bills, Balances and Back-Payments: The Ins and Outs of Running Your Household's Finances

Running a household and looking after your family is never something that is particularly easy. The truth is, it’s very hard, and we all make mistakes. Managing money is difficult, and no one gets it right 100% of the time. But you can help to make sure that you get it right more often than not by doing some extra planning and learning more about financial management. It might seem like a pain to spend your time on things like this, but it could really pay off for you later on. Your family life could improve massively. Here are the ins and outs of running your household’s finances in the right way.

Know Every Financial Obligation and Put Them in a Database

First of all, you need to put everything in order. This is something that should be done before you start worrying about anything else. For a start, list all of your family’s financial obligations. This should include loan repayments, bills, regular expenses and basics such as food. Of course, there are always extra expenses that you don’t see coming. To make sure you have these factored into your financial plans, add an extra amount to each monthly financial plan. You should also put all of this into a database to make it even easier to understand.

Cutting back and spending less is important if you want to manage your household’s money in the right kind of way. It certainly can be done if you put your mind to it. Sure, having kids and keeping them satisfied is not cheap. But it’s always possible to find cheap ways to keep the kids entertained. You can’t buy your way to financial happiness, so find ways to have fun and bond as a family for free. For example, instead of going out, you could plan a movie night in front of the TV. And instead of staying in an expensive hotel, you can make your own fun while camping.

Learn About How to Manage Cash Flow

Cash flow is one of those things that everyone is aware of, but not many people really understand fully. When you don’t understand how to manage the flow of money coming in and going out of your family’s accounts, you will never get a proper grip on your overall finances. There are many ways to manage cash flow better, but they all start with learning. There are many online tutorials that can help you to achieve what you want to. Take the time out of your schedule to teach yourself about this subject.

Buying in bulk is something that all families should do if you ask me. When you are able to buy large amounts of the things you need, you can get a price that saves you a lot of money in the long-term. For example, if you eat a lot of pasta as a family, buy one of those huge sacks of dried pasta. This will last you for a long time, and over the course of a year, this will work out as being so much cheaper than buying a small pack of pasta each week. This applies to so many other things as well; not just food items. Look at the options and find ways to bulk up if you want to save cash.

Learn to Prioritise Debts Correctly

Most families have some form of debt to consider and think about. Many of them have multiples debt obligations that they’re juggling. Mortgages, personal loans, car loans, student debt and other types of debt can all pile up and seem insurmountable. But that doesn’t mean that the debt can’t be overcome. In fact, it definitely can. You just need to know how to prioritise your debts and pay them back in the right order. Cash advance loans and payday loans need to be paid back first because they’re short-term loans. But debts with longer terms can be left for longer.

Re-assessing your options is always important when it comes to managing your debts. You can’t stay on top of all the important things if you’re not aware of all your options. For example, when was the last time you compared internet service provider deals? There are often plenty of cheap deals that can save your family a bit of extra money. You just need to be prepared to look for them.

About Me

Hi! I'm Pearl and I'm the mom behind "She's The Mom" so shall I say "I'm the Mom"? lol I am a 20-something full time mom turned (Freelancer) work at home mom. Nurse by profession and a writer by heart. I have 3 lovely kids; Tristan, Athena and Brianna. I am married with my soulmate Jaear. And this space is my online journal where I express and share with everyone my musings as a mom.

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